Asking and Answers
by DramaLexy
Summary: One scene from Home Pt 2 made my eyes light up as I watched. So I took it and ran with it.


TITLE: Asking and Answers

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: I really loved the scene in Home Pt2 when everyone reunited on Kobol. So I took it and ran with it.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Don't sue

SPOILERS: Anything up to and including Home Part 2 is fair game

DISTRIBUTION: If you want it, just let me know where it's going first.

* * *

Kara had decided that the weather on Kobol in the summer was just as bad as it had once been on Caprica. The nuclear winter that was setting in on her homeworld had wreaked havoc with everything, including the climate, but the rainy season was miserable on both planets, and she was glad to have discovered upon waking that the deluge had finally stopped. The only thing worse than making camp in a mudhole was then trying to sleep in that camp while soaked to the skin from a cold rain. 

So much was going through her mind – Anders and the resistance on Caprica, her situation with Lee, whatever that might be, the whole thing with Helo and Sharon. Not to mention the fact that she was now part of a rogue fleet whose only defense against attack was her heavy raider. The thing was a flying tank, not a fighter. Splitting from Galactica meant splitting away from protection, but that was only one of many issues that the rogues would have to deal with if they managed to get back off this rock and begin making their way towards Earth.

Kara was so deep in thought that she didn't realize what was going on around her until she heard Lee forcefully whispering her callsign. Everyone with a weapon was getting into defensive positions – something she didn't know about had alerted them. Mentally kicking herself for being so distracted, Kara got up from her tent, gun in hand, and got behind a tree.

"Lie low," she whispered to Helo when she saw him standing up a little too straight as he tried to make his way over to her. Apollo was signaling to the other members of the group where they should be. He finally turned to face their attacker(s) and found himself face to face – and barrel to barrel – with his father. Lee just stared in shock, and Kara couldn't help but do the same, her arms lowering.

"Put your weapon down, Captain," Adama told his son, and Lee complied after only a split second of startled hesitation. Kara had no idea what they were to expect next – Lee HAD mutinied twice – but just a scant moment later, he pulled his son into his arms, holding him tight as the tears welled in his eyes. Family was and always would be the most important thing to the fleet's commanding officer.

"Commander," Roslin addressed Adama, her voice cool and cautious. They were all surprised again to see the smile on his face when he released Lee and turned to the woman that he'd had removed from power.

"It's good to see you," he replied, and it was obvious the words were genuine. Just like that, the family was back together. Father and son, and Hera and Zeus had been reunited. As Kara watched them all, she had an acute sense of being on the outside – after all that she'd risked on the president's behalf to get the arrow, Roslin had brushed off her concerns for the people on Caprica. And Adama…she feared the water that had been accumulating under their bridge had finally gotten to the point of washing it out.

Kara's breath caught when Adama turned to see who Lee's gaze had shifted to and noticed her. His eyes just bored holes through her for a long moment before he stepped away from Lee and made his way over to her. Kara was frozen as she watched him from under her bangs. All of a sudden, the thing she wanted more than anything else in the universe was to know that she hadn't permanently screwed things up, that there was still somehow some kind of chance for them to get things back to the way they used to be.

Adama's hand slowly rose to her face and brushed her blonde locks back from in front of her eyes. He studied her for a moment, searching for proof that she really was okay and unhurt and right there in front of him. As his warm hand cupped her cheek, Kara knew she had her answer.

* * *

They spent a final night on Kobol before being able to make their way back down the mountain to rendezvous with Galactica's Raptor and get the Astral Queen to pick up the rest of them. The discovery that they'd made in the Tomb had Kara too excited to sleep, so she offered to keep watch along with Tyrol. As she looked around the campsite she saw that Billy was asleep on a tarp at the foot of Roslin's with Zarek not too far away, Helo and Sharon were curled up together in one corner of the site and Tyrol seemed to be having some difficulty keeping his gaze from lingering on the copy of his Cylon former lover. Lee was asleep behind Kara's seat on a rock, in a tent that he'd helped her set up and they probably would have ended up sharing if she was actually sleeping. And Adama…she scanned the group, realizing that he wasn't in his tent. 

Before panic could rise too far, she noticed a dark figure at the edge of the site, his back to the embers of the small fire they'd made earlier. After catching Tyrol's eye and signaling to him that she was moving, Kara headed over to her commander. "Are you all right?" she quietly asked as she came to stand beside him. Adama didn't look away from the stars he'd been staring at for the past ten minutes or so.

"I'm better now," he replied in kind.

"I…I'm sorry I wasn't there," Kara told him. "I mean, I wasn't there when…"

"I know," Adama said, finally turning to her. "I wish…that I could apologize to you as well, but I did what I felt I had to."

"I did the same," Kara replied. He slowly nodded.

"Then we're even now." Silence fell for a long moment.

"I'm really glad that you're all right," Kara said at last. In the darkness, she couldn't see the expression on Adama's face to know if that had made any impact. When he didn't respond, she started to turn away and return to her post. She was surprised, however, by the feel of a hand on her shoulder, and the next thing she knew she was wrapped up in his arms.

"I thought we had lost you again," he whispered, and she was surprised to find herself dangerously close to letting tears fall. Kara had spent years of her life trying to convince herself and everyone else that she didn't need people, but ever since she'd gone to Caprica, she had been needing a lot more than she liked to admit.

Adama pulled back, again brushing Kara's hair away from her face; several strands had made an escape from her little ponytail. He stared for a moment, as though trying to memorize everything about the person she had become in her time away, then planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You should get some sleep," he told her in a tone that was more fatherly than commanding. "I'll keep your watch."

"It's all right – "

"Sleep, Kara," he cut her off. "We're going home tomorrow, and I have a feeling it'll be quite a day."

Kara smiled. "I'm not sure if that quite covers it, Sir. Goodnight." He watched her retreat to her tent and lie down beside her best friend, his son. Adama had never asked for a daughter, and Kara had never asked for another family, but they were both lucky the Gods hadn't waited to be asked.

* * *

FIN 

See that blue button down there? You know what to do with it. 8-)


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